IAQA - White Paper Archives

IAQA 18th Annual Meeting & Indoor Environment and Energy Expo (IE3) The views and opinions herein are those of the volunteer authors and may not reflect the views and opinions of IAQA. The information is offered in good faith and believed to be reliable but it is provided without warranty, expressed or implied, as to the merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or any other matter. Certainly, maintenance of both buildings and the mechanical systems that serve them is something that can have a strong impact on IAQ. Although the society is largely oriented toward the design of HVAC and Refrigeration systems, and technical details around the related systems and equipment, ASHRAE began to recognize in the late 1990s that lack of good maintenance could defeat both good equipment and design. As a result, several initiatives were set in motion: Technical Committee 7.3 (Operations and Maintenance Management) was formed as a way to focus on O&M matters and identify and manage educational, research, technical program, handbook content needs and recommend and guide development of appropriate Standards and/or Guidelines. Development and publication of Standard 180 (Inspection and Maintenance of Commercial Building HVAC Systems) and Guidelines 4 (Documentation of Operating and Maintenance Documentation for Building Systems)& 32 (Sustainable, High Performance Operations and Maintenance). Creation of OPMP (Operations and Performance Management Professional) Certification. Appoint a representative to WHPA (Western HVAC Performance Alliance) which is composed of nearly 200 organizations that are working together to develop ways "transform" HVAC systems and their maintenance in order to gain greater energy efficiency. The ASHRAE representative is Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Alliance. Developed ASHRAE Learning Institute coursework on O&M (Fundamentals of Building Operation, Maintenance and Management) All of this plus the vast store of technical information that ASHRAE has developed and maintains marks the society as an important source of maintenance resources along with such more visible organizations (in terms of Residential Maintenance) in the field such as ACCA, SMACNA, the Unions, Education providers and state and local contractor organizations. Commercial vs Residential; factors that impact IAQ Since, in the past, the ASHRAE focus has been primarily on Commercial buildings and very large residential buildings, it is helpful to understand the differences between large buildings and residences that may impact indoor environmental conditions and air quality. This will help us focus on those things that are most likely to impact IAQ in residential occupancies. Hopefully that knowledge will guide us in both measures currently available to improve IAQ in residences and point to research that is needed in order to better understand the dynamics of residences and lead to overall improvement in residential IAQ. The following are some of the apparent areas. The observations are taken from the author's experience and are intended to be typical. There may well be exceptions to any or all of the statements: Design – o Commercial – Licensed Professional Engineers, Architects and others normally are retained for the design both the building and mechanical systems. Thus, there is a good chance that more factors that might ultimately impact IAQ will be considered and incorporated into the design so as to prevent future problems. o Residential - Although there are very competent individuals who do residential design work, there are also many who are much less qualified, experienced and trained. Thus, things that may impact IAQ may not be considered in the design. Construction –

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